Disclaimer: All characters and things from ANGEL and BUFFY belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. If they aren't on the show they belong to me.
Summary: A different turn of events after Season 1 Episode 12 "Expecting" A/C pairing
CHAPTER 34
Jessica and Angel had defeated the demon in five minutes flat. Angel smiled at how quick and strong his daughter was. She was an amazing fighter.
"Now we need to close this sucker up." Jessica motioned to the portal. "How'd you open it?"
"Wes did." Angel pointed to the papers all over the floor. "He used those."
Jessica nodded and picked up the papers. "There should be a way to reverse them."
Angel joined her. "Yeah. Here, I can read them." He went to take the papers but Jessica pulled them out of his reach.
"Uh…so can I." She gave her father a slick smile.
"They're in Latin." Angel told her.
"So? What do you think, Holtz taught us nothing in that hell hole?" Jessica smirked, and then began reading the Latin perfectly.
Angel was impressed, and walked over to Cordelia, wrapping his arm around her as he watched his daughter close up the rip in time. Jessica than kicked the candles over.
"Someone's gonna want to clean that star up later." Jess motioned to the pentagram.
Just than the door swung open and Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Lorne rushed back in.
"Did you find anything?" Jessica asked.
Wesley nodded. "Connor and Holtz are staying in some small hotel. Nothing great."
"Where?" Jessica asked.
"Two blocks east." Gunn told her.
"Good. I'll go talk to him tonight." Jessica informed the group.
"You mean we will." Angel corrected her.
"No, I will." Jessica corrected him back. "He isn't going to let you get two words in before he tries to kill you."
"Oh, and from the looks of things before, he will definitely let you talk first." Gunn said sarcastically.
"I know what it looked like before, but he is my brother, and he does care about me." Jessica defended Connor. "He's just confused right now."
"What about Holtz?" Fred asked.
Jessica sighed, looking down at the blood still oozing from the place the arrow had struck her earlier. "We will worry about him later, I guess."
"Here, Jess, let me clean that up for you." Cordelia offered, motioning to the blood all over Jessica's shirt.
"I'm fine." Jessica said quickly.
"You're bleeding." Cordelia placed a hand on Jessica's stomach.
"I'm fine!" Jessica growled, before stepping back from Cordelia. Realizing the tone she had just used, and seeing the looks on everyone's face in the hotel at the sudden lash out on her mother she backtracked. "I mean…I've had worse is all. I'm fine, really. I just need a shower."
"Right upstairs." Angel told his daughter. "After you clean up, if you want…I've got a nice arsenal down here in case you need some weapons tonight."
"Awesome." Jessica smirked, throwing a fake punch at her father. "Sounds like a plan."
Angel laughed, patting Jessica's shoulder. "Great." He then watched his daughter hurry up the stairs and out of sight.
Angel smiled and turned immediately to Gunn and Wesley. "You guys should have seen her fight the demon before with me. She's amazing!"
"She cleaned Connor's butt pretty good before." Gunn agreed. "She's definitely your daughter."
Angel smiled, continuing the conversation with Gunn and Wesley as the three men walked into the kitchen, leaving Cordelia, Fred, and Lorne in the lobby.
Lorne could tell almost immediately that something was wrong with Cordelia. "What's buggy you, princess?" He asked her.
Cordelia sighed. "It's nothing."
"It's her." Lorne motioned in the direction Jessica had exited in.
"She's changed." Cordelia said.
"Well, I mean sure, she is a lot older than when I last remembered her but…" Fred started.
"No, not like that, Fred." Cordelia told her. "She's just different."
"You think she doesn't like you?" Lorne asked.
Cordelia shrugged. "I don't know. She keeps blowing me off every time I try to help her."
"Maybe she's just got to get used to things." Fred offered.
"Maybe…" Cordelia sighed. "It's just, she took to Angel so fast."
"She was always a Daddy's girl." Lorne reminded her.
"But I'm her mother, she's supposed to be close with me." Cordelia argued. She knew it was lame, but it's how she felt.
"Maybe you should talk to her." Fred said.
"Or give her some time, she'll come around to you, Cordy. I can't see why she wouldn't." Lorne said, resting a hand on the young seers shoulder. "She's lucky to have you."
"You're right." Cordelia saw the rationality behind Lorne's words. "I mean, this is probably a lot for her to take in right now, plus she's probably worried about Connor."
"Exactly." Lorne agreed, knowing he had made Cordelia feel a little better.
Everyone was sitting around in the lobby when Jessica entered, taking the stairs two at a time, cleaned up, and wearing one of Cordelia's black tank tops and a pair of sweatpants. With her arms exposed, Angel could see the scars almost immediately. He rushed to his daughter's side.
"What the hell happened?" Angel grabbed her arm.
Jessica retracted it quickly from Angel and shrugged it off. "Battle scars."
"Looks more like whip marks to me." Angel told her.
Jessica shrugged again, flopping herself down on the couch across from Cordelia. "It's not a big deal."
"What's it from then?" Angel asked.
"Just…punishment." Jessica told him.
"Punishment?" Cordelia questioned.
"Yeah, you know? Like you get in trouble and your parents punish you?" Jessica told her sarcastically.
The comment immediately shut Cordelia up. She had never felt so small compared to someone in her life.
"Who did this to you?" Angel was angry. "Was it Holtz?"
"It doesn't matter." Jessica shrugged it off. "What's done is done."
"I'll kill him for it." Angel threatened.
Jessica laughed. "Relax." She stood. "I'm hungry."
"Foods in the kitchen." Gunn told her.
"Blood too." Angel added, remembering she could drink just like him.
"Thanks." Jessica said before exiting.
"He whipped her." Angel said. "Holtz whipped her."
"He's a bastard alright." Gunn agreed. "Maybe you could clean them up though, Cordy. You're usually good with that kind of stuff."
"Yeah, if she would let me near her." Cordelia said.
"What do you mean?" Angel asked her.
"Jess, she won't let me even talk to her, let alone touch her." Cordelia told him.
"That's not true." Angel said. "You talked to her."
"And all she does is shoot me down every time I try to help." Cordelia answered him.
Angel looked around the room to see everyone nodding their heads slowly.
"She kind of does." Fred agreed with Cordelia.
"She's just adjusting." Angel defended his daughter. "She has a lot on her plate right now. Just be glad she is back and safe."
"I am." Cordelia said honestly. "I just wish she would talk to me."
"Give it time, Cordelia." Angel kissed her on the head. "Just give her some time to come around. If she is anything like you, she is stubborn, which means it will take some time."
Cordelia swatted at him playfully before kissing him again.
Night had fallen when Jessica was ready to go over to the hotel Holtz and Connor were staying in. She entered the lobby, throwing on one of Angel's long, black, leather coats. She seemed to take after her father in quite a few areas, especially her choice of colors of clothing. Black, black, and black was all Cordelia had seen her daughter in since she had met her.
"You need anything?" Angel asked, swinging the weapon cabinet open to show Jessica what was in it.
"Yeah, we are quiet the weapon collectors." Wesley told her.
Jess shook her head. "Connor won't attack me."
"He didn't have a problem doing it here." Gunn reminded her, as he wrapped an arm around Fred.
"Because I stood in the way of him and…" She looked to Angel. "And…dad."
Angel smiled, hearing what Jessica had called him. "You'll be safe?"
"Yeah." Jessica grinned. "I'll be safe. Keep your fingers crossed and I'll be back here with Connor tonight."
"Good luck!" Lorne tipped his sea breeze to her.
"Thanks." Jessica said, as she turned to the door.
"Jess, seriously, be safe." Cordelia told her daughter.
Jessica stood dead in her tracks, sighed, and turned around to face Cordelia directly. "I don't need a baby sitter, and I'm a little old for you to be worrying about me now, don't you think?"
Cordelia, for once in her life, was left speechless, as she watched her daughter walk right out the door.
Jessica took a deep breath before knocking on the door. A moment later it swung open and Connor motioned her to come in, quickly shutting the door behind her. The room was dim, but it did not take Jessica more than a second to focus; vampire senses were not a bad thing to inherit.
"So you made it after all?" Holtz said, from is spot at the small table. "We knew you would come."
"I'm sure you did." Jessica folded her arms, rubbing over the scars that were hidden under Angel's jacket every time Holtz shot his eyes in her direction. "You must know why I'm here."
Holtz nodded. "Not to stay."
"And…" Jessica looked to Connor.
"And you want me to come back with you?" Connor asked. "Well, it's not happening. I came for one reason, and that was to kill Angelus."
"Angel." Jessica corrected him. "And everything Holtz told you…it's a lie!"
Holtz stood, quickly, wrapping Jessica across the face with the cane he held before she had time to react. "You do not know anything. Of course you side with him, you are a demon just like your father."
"So is Connor." Jessica said, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth.
"He is not. He is a good boy." Then it clicked for Holtz. "But he is Angel's son."
"What?" Connor was shocked.
"And he will go back with you, Jessica." Holtz continued, shocking both children in the room.
"What?" Connor was furious.
"Jess, give me a moment with him?" Holtz motioned for her to go into the hall.
Jessica sighed, and nodded, exiting the room.
"Have you gone mad?" Connor asked Holtz. "He is not my father, you are!"
Holtz nodded. "But if you want to kill him you must learn how he fights. Go, pretend to be a changed man, gain his trust-"
"And then finish him." Connor cut Holtz off. "It's the only way to save Jess."
Holtz nodded. "You learn quickly."
Connor smiled, before exiting into the hallway to join his sister. He loved his little sister, and he would save her from the lies she had told herself for years in Quortoth. The lies that had brought the beatings from Holtz time after time to her. The lies that Angelus was good, that Holtz was bad, and that her place was next to Angelus, to fight in this world. All the lies that had nearly gotten his sister killed, Connor was ready to expose the truth to her, it was all he could do to save her.
Jessica got to the hotel door with Connor trailing behind her. Before she entered, however, she turned to face him.
"Are we going in, or aren't we?" Connor asked her.
"Don't try anything." Jessica said simply.
"What?" Connor tried to pretend he didn't understand what she had said.
"Don't try anything. I know Holtz didn't just suddenly have a change of heart about Dad so don't try anything."
"What dad? Holtz is our father."
"No, Angel is." She turned back to the door. "Get over it, Connor. This is your real life."
Connor shook his head. He couldn't believe how much Jessica had begun to believe the lies she had told herself. He entered the hotel behind his little sister with his guard up, only to find a room full of people sitting around, plus one green demon.
Introductions were thrown at Connor, and he complied, but no one really moved to get to close to him. No one except her.
"Connor, this must be a lot to take in." The woman named Cordelia said softly to him. "You can go rest in one of the rooms upstairs, if you want."
Connor shook his head. She was Jessica's mother, or so Holtz had told him. Connor didn't know why, but he felt safe around her, he had never felt like that in his life before.
"He's fine." Jessica threw back the words quickly to Cordelia, without making eye contact with her. "He's a big boy, he can take care of himself."
"I didn't say he couldn't." Cordelia finally snapped out of the trance her daughter had put her in.
Jessica went to say something, but Angel interfered, sensing the tension.
"If you're not tired, Connor, you can maybe come out with me." Angel offered, wanting to get of on the right foot with his son. "Wesley, Gunn, Fred and me are going to go out on a case. Kill some demons or something…then maybe grab something to eat afterwards."
This was exactly what Connor needed to do if he was going to learn how to defeat Angel, and he knew it. He nodded. "Okay."
"What are we killing?" Jessica asked, ready to get some action in before the night was over.
"You? Nothing. You're going to stay here." Angel told his daughter.
"What? No way!" Jessica crossed her arms. "Why should I?"
"You're injured." Angel pointed to her stomach.
"It's practically healed." Jessica argued.
Angel shrugged. "So? There will be plenty of time to fight, take it easy tonight." Before Jessica could argue again, Angel had led the group out the door.
Jessica looked around to see Cordelia and Lorne on the couch, and she realized what Angel had done. He had trapped her in the house with her mother. She clenched her jaw, and marched up to her room. Like hell she was going to stay down there with her mother, she'd rather sit and stare at her old crib any day of the week.
Lorne stood. "You should talk to her, Cordy."
"What would I say?" Cordelia sighed.
"I'm not sure, but you better go talk to her, because there is clearly something going on between you too." The demon made his way to the door. "I'll be down at the club. I've got to start a new paint job in there."
Cordelia nodded, and stood slowly, taking a deep breath and making her way up the stairs.
Angel, Gunn, Wesley, and Fred walked a few feet behind Connor, who was looking all around him.
"No offense, Angel, but why would you bring him with us?" Gunn asked, motioning to Connor. "He tried to kill you this afternoon, and now you acting like that didn't happen."
Angel shrugged. "He's family. Besides, he was confused before. Jess wouldn't have brought him back to the hotel if he wasn't safe."
"And speaking of her, why didn't she come with us?" Fred asked, curiously.
"Because something is going on between her and Cordy, and they need to figure it out." Angel told her.
"So you locked them in the hotel together? They are exactly like each other, thickheaded as can be, and stubborn. You'll be lucky if they said two words to each other." Gunn snorted.
"They'll talk or I just won't let them out of there." Angel smiled.
"Hey, where are we going?" Connor shouted back from his spot ahead of them.
"Next left." Wesley told him. "We need to be careful, the case is simple but still. I got a call last night, the people above the apartment think there is a nest of vampires below them so- "
Wesley didn't bother finishing his sentence when he realized Connor had taken off the minute he heard vampire.
Angel smiled as he watched Connor turn the corner. "Damn he's fast!" He said about his son as he began to follow the boy.
Gunn just rolled his eyes at Wesley while the rest of the group took off after Angel.
Cordelia sighed, running her hands through her hair as she stood outside of Jessica's room. She was determined to find out why her daughter had such an attitude when it came to her. She had been sick over the fact that Jessica had been taken from her, and now that her daughter was back she couldn't understand why Jessica seemed to hate her so much. Had Cordelia said something or done something? Why did Jessica seem to care so much for her father and so little for her mother?
Cordelia took a deep breath and went to knock on the door, but before she could, she heard Jessica's voice from the other side of it. "I'm not stupid you know, I have vampire senses, I can hear you breathing out there!"
Cordelia looked down at her hands and took another deep breath. "Can I come in?"
"You aren't gonna leave until I say yes." Jessica seemed to know her mother already.
"You're right."
The door swung open, and Jessica stood there with a clenched jaw. "Then come in."
Cordelia nodded and entered the room, sitting in the rocking chair she used to rock Jessica to sleep in. "We need to talk."
Jessica folded her arms and leaned against the wall. "We really don't."
"What's your problem with me? You've been back about ten hours and you already hate me."
"I don't hate you." Jess mumbled.
"Really? Because that's how you've been acting."
"I don't hate you. I just hate…" Jessica looked down.
"You hate what?" Cordelia asked softly, seeing something was really bothering her daughter.
"You never tried to save us." Jessica glared, looking up at Cordelia. Her eyes were as penetrating to Cordelia as Angel's were the day he fired them all a few months ago. They were so black and full of emotion.
"What?" Cordelia was shocked.
"You let Holtz take us!" Jessica growled. "You didn't try to save us, you let him jump right through with us, damn it!"
"That's not true…" Cordelia felt the tears form in her eyes.
"You know damn well it is!" Jessica was furious. "Holtz may be a liar when it comes to Dad, but he didn't lie about that night. Dad offered his life to save us and you stood there! You stood there and let him take us! You're our mother and you didn't even try to save us!"
Cordelia was at a loss of words. She shook her head as she felt a tear roll down her cheek.
"You act like you love me and Connor, like you care about us, but how can you say that? Mothers are supposed to do anything for their children, they are supposed to be ready to give their lives up in a heartbeat, and what did you do when your kids were in trouble? You stood there! You stood there and let us get taken!"
"I…I…" Cordelia stammered as more tears rose.
"You…you…you what?" Jessica growled.
"I'm so sorry." Cordelia cried softly, and she meant it.
"Yeah." Jessica snorted. "Well sorry doesn't take away the years I had to spend in that hell demension, or the bruises and scars or the beatings, or the simple fact of not knowing if I was going to live or die every day. Sorry doesn't fix anything."
Jessica turned and walked out of the room, leaving Cordelia there to cry in the rocking chair.
By the time Angel and the rest of the fang gang had entered the abandoned apartment, Connor had already cleaned two of the vampires, and was working on the third. Angel watched from the corner of the room as Connor circled the vampire.
"Jab at him Connor, he's got a weak left side." Angel told his son.
Connor did exactly what Angel told him two and the vampire was a pile of dust in two seconds flat.
"Good shot." Angel told him.
"Thanks…" Connor threw his stake down, but before he had a chance to take a step another vampire was on his back, and throwing him into the wall.
Angel reacted quickly, ripping the vampire off his son and dueling it out with him. Connor watched in amazement as Angel defeated the other demon with no effort. Angel had saved Connor's life.
"That all of them?" Gunn asked.
Angel looked around, and then nodded, helping Connor up. "Yeah, that's it."
"So, does that mean tacos now?" Fred grinned.
Angel laughed. "Tacos sound good?"
"Hell yeah!" Gunn said.
Wesley looked down at his watch. "We should probably give Jess and Cordy more time to talk anyway."
"Good idea." Angel nodded. "Connor, you want to go out and eat?"
Connor shrugged. "I'm kind of tired."
"Then I'll take you home." Angel said.
"We'll bring you something back." Gunn said, wrapping an arm around Fred. "Come on, Wes."
Wesley shook his head, feeling uncomfortable at the whole Gunn and Fred situation. "I…actually…I'm going to go talk to the people who phoned in the case. Tell them everything's okay."
Gunn nodded, kissing Fred. "Looks like it's just you and me then."
"Sounds good." Fred giggled as she linked arms with Gunn.
Angel and Connor walked silently for a few blocks.
"So…" Angel started. "This place must be a lot different than Quortoth."
"Yeah." Connor nodded, feeling awkward near Angel. All he wanted to do was stake the demon next to him. He knew all the things Angelus had done, but Angel had saved him tonight. Maybe all the things Jess had talked about weren't lies.
"You'll get used to things around here." Angel told him.
Connor nodded again. "I guess."
"I…I know you…well I know what you think I am." Angel told him. "And I won't lie. I am a vampire, and everything Holtz told you, I did. I killed his family, but I had no soul then. I have one now, and I've changed. I'm a different person then what I once was. I can't tell you how sorry I am for what I did to Holtz, but it's a part of my past. I can't change it, and I'll never be able to make it right but I'll try anyway."
"I never expected you to be able to make it right, because there is no way to do that. You took away his family."
"And he took away mine." Angel shot back quickly. "But I have mine back, and I'll do whatever I can to make things right between me and you, and Holtz."
Connor nodded, for some reason he believed Angel. "Okay."
Angel smiled, throwing a fake jab at Connor. Connor smiled back and mimicked Angel. They went at it for quite a while on the sidewalk, both laughing and enjoying themselves. They were so wrapped up in it, that neither noticed the man sitting across the street at the bus stop. The man who was responsible for both tearing Angel's family apart, and bringing them back together.
When the bus pulled up, Holtz got on it. He knew exactly what he had to do to get Connor to kill Angel.